


Reveal and revel

by Fluffy_Lama



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Continuation, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, M/M, Plot, Titan Shifters, Titan powers, of sorts, spoilers up to chapter 118
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-13 23:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19261123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffy_Lama/pseuds/Fluffy_Lama
Summary: What was wrong with her?What was wrong with him?





	Reveal and revel

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've finished chapter 118. And holy shit was it intense.  
> And here I am, with another story (not porn, yay!). Hello, madness, my old friend.  
> Enjoy!

It was hopeless.

Levi was dying.

She’d tried everything short of a titan injection, and she would’ve tried that, too, if she had even one.

But she didn’t, and Levi was dying right in her arms.

“What happened?”

Hange whirled around, hand on her - Levi’s! - sword, but she was too late, again. Eren Jaeger’s hand covered hers, iron grip not letting her draw the blade. How he came this close without her noticing, she had… a pretty fucking clear idea. She’s been out of the field for the last four years while Eren’s whole life had been a mission.

“Hange. Tell me.”

She swallowed, thick, and not for the first time thought that Levi should have been the one to speak with Eren in the beginning. Maybe than they wouldn’t be here.

But they were, and the only thing she could do was using the circumstances to her advantage. If Eren could ever be persuaded into sanity, it was with Levi… or his death. And so Hange spoke.

“The Beast got him. I found him with scraps of wood sticking ot of his face.”

“A Thunderspear explosion?”

“How do you know that, Eren? Have you talked to Zeke? What’s happening?”

Eren didn’t acknowledge any of her questions.

“Internal bleedings, major ruptures?”

“All of those and more. Eren…”

She was ignored again. Eren, dirty, beaten, but freshly healed and strong as ever, was looking at Levi’s lying form impassively, almost clinically. Hange risked gazing into Eren’s eyes then, to see the expression, to make sure that their Eren was really gone, but what she saw only disconcerted her more.

Distance, regret, acceptance, rage.

Here stood an owner of three titan powers, ready to crush anything, yet Hange was torn between fleeing and hugging him tightly.

What was wrong with her?

What was wrong with him?

Eren turned to her, and she hastily dropped her gaze. It wouldn’t do to antagonize him - Hange was alone in this forest, and Levi was in no state to help. One wrong word, one wrong move, and she would be dead faster than her friend.

Who didn’t have much time himself.

“I’m going to let you go, Hange. In return, you will sever my head when he transforms and make sure he eats it.”

“What?! Eren, are you mad?!”

“Aim as close to shoulders as you can. On my command.”

“What?! Eren, wait!..”

But he was already pulling out a syringe, one of those that Hange was dreaming of just a moment earlier, and injecting Levi with titan fluid.

“He’s an Ackerman, Eren! What if he…” She fell short before Eren could react. Levi might not wake up with this, but without - he definitely wouldn’t.

“Get back from him, Hange. And pay attention. It might take a while.”

She drew the blades, white-knuckled, and forced herself to breathe. Levi was strong. He would open his eyes any moment and…

“Now, Hange.”

The warning was unnecessary. Blinded by bright yellow light, she still managed to swing the blades accurately.

Somehow, she didn’t expect Eren to be such an easy target. From the moment he appeared here, at a tiny unassuming clearing, she was waiting for another shoe to drop. Titans coming from all directions, Jaeger Loyalists spawning around, anything. Instead, she was holding Eren’s severed head by his long hair and staring in the mindless, hungry eyes of Levi’s titan.

He had an ugly, twisted form, a giant six-meter head on a feeble three-meter body that couldn’t hold it’s weight, so it was scraping the earth with weak arms in a futile attempt to get closer to humans.

“What are you waiting for? Throw.”

Hange almost dropped the head when it spoke.

Of course, she doubted that Eren was willing to sacrifice his life for Levi, so she suspected there was some life left in his body, but she didn’t expect him to maintain full consciousness after a clean decapitation.

“Hange.”

“You are going to answer each and every question that I have after that, Eren!”

He remained silent.

Hange threw the head right into the titan’s mouth and cringed at a distinct crunch of bones.

Eren’s headless body dropped to it’s knees, but it still didn’t look dead. With nothing happening there, Hange turned her attention to the titan and barely contained a sob. She remembered Arming turning, how the others had to pull him out of his titan, hale and whole. With Levi, she didn’t need to bother. Three abrupt, violent twitches, and he was out, dressed in bloody rags, looking murderous and wonderfully, perfectly alive.

“Levi!”

She hugged him then and there, not caring what he said or did.

“Let go of me, shitty glasses.”

Unlocking her arms, she was just happy that he was back. It didn’t even matter, how.

Free to go, Levi went to Eren’s body and kicked it. Hard.

Scratch that. Levi was alive and well, and Hange wanted _information_.

“Levi, do you have Eren’s memories? Tell me, what happened?”

“I’d rather he does the talking.”

“What?” Hange was saying that a lot lately, but it wasn’t like the situation didn’t warrant that. For instance, right now - when as a reply Levi just nodded at Eren’s body… which was growing another head!

“Holy Sina, Eren!”

“Hold it. He can’t hear you yet. Without the head his perception is rather limited. Pain only.”

“Levi…”

He visibly recoiled, but then sighed and looked around. Hange could barely stand still while Levi was choosing a place to sit - an old oak’s root smooth enough to be comfortable - and gathering his thoughts.

“In short, I have the Attack Titan now. Eren’s left with the Warhammer.”

He didn’t mention the Founding, but Hange let it slide for now.

“How?”

“Fuck if I understand. How, Eren?”

Hange whirled. Whole once more, Eren was frowning in obvious pain and massaging his forehead, but at the same time he was… smiling. How long had it been since his last real smile? Hange couldn’t recall.

Eren sat right there on the ground. His smile slowly morphed into indifference, only now, when Hange knew what to look for, she could hear exhaustion and affection, determination and relief when Eren spoke.

“Titan’s power is contained in the marrow and can be transfered along the spinal cord. With several titans I just needed to divide the powers and put the one I wanted to dispose of into the part that would be the easiest to sever. It’s simple, really.”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Eren?”

“You’ll learn to do it soon enough, Levi.”

As Levi would put it, fuck. She hadn’t just imagined this, had she?

“Or I’ll just access your memories, brat.”

“Or that, if you want to cheat.”

No, she definitely hadn’t imagined that.

But.

“As fascinating as you two are together, don’t think that you could side-track me that easily. What _is_ going on?” She didn’t really believe they’d agree to her demand, but they exchanged loaded looks - Hange had half a mind to leave them alone and return in a couple of hours, - and Eren nodded, sharp.

“Levi has the Founding Titan now. I screwed up with Yelena and Zeke when I learned… doesn’t matter. They would not let me touch Zeke anymore, so I won’t be able to use ‘The Rumble’. But they won’t suspect Levi of having the ability, so he can do this instead. I draw their attention, Levi carries on the plan, and we deal with the fallout after we kill all the traitors and fight off the invasion.”

Keeping her mouth shut was harder and harder with every word that Eren said. Levi, on the other hand, didn’t look even remotely surprised.

“You knew,” she breathed out in a sudden moment of clarity. “You knew from the start what Eren intended to do. Fuck, Levi!”

She’d ask, why him and not her. Why had Eren trusted a captain over the commander.

If she didn’t know the answer all too well.

“And what is the plan, exactly?” Hange tried to keep hurt out of her voice. It was irrational, she really was better off not knowing up to this point, maybe even up until it ended, but she couldn’t help feeling left out.

Though she didn’t entrust them every detail of her plans, either. No room for complaints here.

“With my attack on Marley I was able to provoke the military alliance between all the nations. They will come in half a year, but, to bring all their forces, they have to believe that there is no other way for them. We need every enemy soldier, every ship and aircraft here to crush them in one swift blow and leave no chance for another attack in the nearest future. For that, we would demonstrate a lot of our force today. Not all, but enough to scare them.”

“Question is, if we fucking can defend ourselves against their combined forces when they come.”

“We will. We don’t have a choice, Levi.”

“I don’t hear the Wall Titan’s Call like you did, Eren. I might not be able to use ‘The Rumble’.”

“Then today we fight with our titans alone. We make _us_ enough. In half a year Historia will be holding the Beast, and you could give her the Founding. We will still win.”

“Simple.”

“Is it not?”

Eren was smiling again, and Levi… Levi was, too. Hange felt abandoned, but also calm for the first time since the blasted Marley Attack. It had not been Eren going crazy back then. All this was deliberate, every step - part of a strategy. Eren had a plan, and he had Levi. They knew what they were doing. Everything was going to be fine.

“By the way, my tenure with the Attack titan has ended, and I’m still alive because of the Warhammer. If we were right, I get another thirteen years. Just like you now.”

“Oi, you shitty brat. _We_ get thirteen years, not you.”

Hange threw her head back and closed her eyes.

Everything was going to be fine indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is greatly appreciated!


End file.
